ANIMATED SHORTS: ENCHANTED'S EASTER EGGS

[MattBrady]

ENCHANTED EASTER EGGS
PUTTING THE DISNEY DVD UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

by Steve Fritz

I forget which movie I was screening, but while waiting for the film I struck up a conversation with the guy next to me. We had both seen Enchanted and started riffing on the easter eggs the producers planted in the movie.

I mean, some are quite obvious, such as Susan Sarandon’s paeans to the evil witches of the great Disney princess movies. Some less so. As it turns out, my bud has been scouring the web hunting for more and the film is just jam packed with little tributes scattered hither and yonder throughout the entire movie.

With the recent release of the DVD, you too can now get into the game. Grab a copy of the disk and plug it in, test your own knowledge, make a party game out of it. Just to get you started, and your eyes trained a bit, here’s a few that you can find:

• ALL YOU NEED IS A LITTLE…Pixie dust. That’s right folks, when Giselle falls into the abandoned well, it turns out that white stuff she’s coated with is Pixie dust. That’s what transforms her, Prince Edward and everyone else into humans.

• PAST PRINCESSES…Amy Adams is the latest Disney princess, but she’s not the only one in the film. Among the past princesses making cameos are: Jodi Benson (Ariel from Little Mermaid), Paige O’Hara (Belle from Beauty & The Beast) and Judy Kuhn (singing voice of Pocahontas).

• WE BRAKE FOR PRINCES…Remember that scene with Prince Edward and the bus? When James Marsden was standing on top of said public transport, you might have noticed that a tour bus went buy with a ton of gawking tourists guffawing in wide amazement. As it turns out, that wasn’t planned, those weren’t actors. Those were real tourists who just happened to be cruising by while the filming happened. Director Kevin Lima sure did know a good ad libbed moment when he saw it.

• LIMA KNOWS CHIPMUNKS…As it turned out, Lima is an old hand at animating chipmunks. His resume also includes working on 1987’s The Chipmunk Adventure featuring three rodents named Simon, Theodore and Alvin, not Pip.

• HEY, IT’S CALLED THE MOUSE WORKS AFTER ALL…Getting back to the bus scene, the driver’s hair was cut to resemble a rather infamous set of mouse ears. If that isn’t enough, in a party scene a number of the vegetables are cut to look like, well, you know the outline. It wouldn’t be a Disney movie without a Mickey tribute or three, would it?

• MORE PAST PRINCESSES…If you didn’t know already, the film’s songwriters, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, have a lot of experience writing songs for Disney princesses. Among their credits are Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin and Pocahantas.

• TALK ABOUT FREE PLUGS…If you check out the billboards, you’d find plugs for other projects members of the cast were involved in. Among them is for the Broadway plays Wicked and Rent (which starred Idina Menzel) as well as the films Superman Returns and Hairspray (James Marsden in both of them). Maybe that will help their DVD sales. Oh yeah, Schwartz wrote the music for Wicked, too.

• GOOFY’S STILL THE BEST…Anyone with a trained ear might hear a familiar howl of dismay when Edward defeats the ogre in the animated part of the movie. Yep, it’s the voice of the great one himself, Goofy. I don’t know if they used the late great Pinto Jarvis for the voice, but it would have been nice if they had.

• EVEN MORE PAST PRINCESSES…Did something about the character Mary Ilene Caseloti sound familiar? It should. It’s a reference to the original three Disney princess Snow White (Adriana Caselotti), Sleeping Beauty (Mary Costa) and Cinderella (Ilene Woods).

• SPEAKING OF PLUGS…In the early animation sequence, you will see a frog wearing a crown of soap. Apparently that’s a little viral campaigning for Disney’s upcoming animated feature The Princess & The Frog. We’ll have to wait until next year before we get the full connection though.

• NOW THIS IS JUST WRONG IN SO MANY WAYS…Getting back to the ogre. Apparently his loincloth is made of remnants from the dresses of other Disney princesses. I don’t know who thought that one up, but I question whether that designer should work on a family movie ever again. Seriously.

• NOW THIS IS DEEP TRIVIA…Remember the soap opera segment? Turns out the characters are named Angela, Jerry and Ogden; homages to three of the key voice actors in the film Beauty & the Beast. I’ll leave it to you geniuses to match the full names of the actors to the characters I’m talking about.

• IT’S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT…If you look carefully, you’ll find there’s one scene where Edward walks past an Italian restaurant. The name of said establishment is “La Belle Notte.” I didn’t see a cocker spaniel and a mutt eating a plate of spaghetti in the background though. That would’ve been tasty.

• A BIT OF REAL LIFE…Ever notice the family name of the divorcees Robert is handling? They’re called The Banks. That’s the name the family in Mary Poppins. I mean, could you blame Mrs. Banks after all?

• TALK ABOUT INFLATION…Notice the beggar woman selling bread crumbs for the pigeons in Central Park? Also notice that she’s selling them for a dollar a bag? Talk about inflation! That’s a long way from a tuppence (two British pennies) kids.

• EVEN MORE PAST PRINCESS…Did you see the two old ladies in the theater? They ARE Mary Costa and Ilene Woods! Kevin Lima says so in the DVD. If anyone should know…

Well, that’s enough of that for now. Do yourself a favor and pick up this guilty pleasure. See what you can find for yourself. Add your own discoveries on to this post. I know I sure had a blast going over the film again and again for these little easter eggs.

[LegionLover]

I loved this movie when I saw it in the theatre, and I loved the references to old-time Disney films, but I had no idea there were this many. Will definitely be getting this DVD!

[De Martini]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

• GOOFY’S STILL THE BEST…Anyone with a trained ear might hear a familiar howl of dismay when Edward defeats the ogre in the animated part of the movie. Yep, it’s the voice of the great one himself, Goofy. I don’t know if they used the late great Pinto Jarvis for the voice, but it would have been nice if they had.

That's not entirely accurate.

What you are referring to his the "Goofy Holler", the patented "Ahooooo-hooo-hoo-hooooey" that Goofy used to yell out in many of his classic bits any time he fell, was sent sprawling through the air, was about to try something dangerous/scary, etc.

When the troll in Enchanted gets sent flying through the air, he lets out a "Goofy Holler" of his own. However, it's not Goofy's voice doing the hollering, nor is this voice of the troll a former Goofy vocalist.

It's just a nod to Disney's version of the "Wilhem scream".

[Skillet]

The director said in one interview that there are hundreds of references. Here are a couple more I could think of off the top of my head.

When Giselle is looking at the fish tank, at the law firm Robert works for, Part of your World from The Little Mermaid can be heard in the background.

Price Edward call the television set "Magic Mirror" a reference to Snow White

The narration is done by Julie Andrews

When Giselle is singing Thats How You Know, she runs up a hill. The scene is an exact replica as the one from Beauty and the Beast, which was taken from The Sound of Music.

The Ogres earring are made from the shells Ariel wore

Giselle refers to the little person In NY as Grumpy, reference to Snow White

She holds two blue diamonds up to her eyes, a reference to a scene in Snow White

There are many many more, but these are just a few I could remember.

[AdamYJ]

I might be wrong, but I believe that the name of Robert's law firm is derived from the names of the songwriters who worked on Snow White.

[Zenstrive]

this one is the most memorable movies of all time, disney or not!

[Moriarty]

My roommates and I keep joking about having a drinking game with the film, i.e. taking shots at every past Disney reference. If this list is any indication, the game should prove quite...interesting...

[Skillet]

Originally Posted by Moriarty

My roommates and I keep joking about having a drinking game with the film, i.e. taking shots at every past Disney reference. If this list is any indication, the game should prove quite...interesting...

You might have to join AA afterwards, since you will be drinking almost non-stop.

[rwe1138]

Broadway veteran Harvey Evans, the elderly yellow-jacketed man who dances during "That's How You Know" – previously danced as a chimney sweep in Mary Poppins.

[Moonbeam]

We bought this DVD at Target last weekend and had a blast watching it. We saw a lot of the Disney references when we saw it in the film - even the kids saw the Bella Notte and the Feed the Birds lady.

A few more I remember -

Nancy's last name is Tremaine, which is the name of the stepmother and stepsisters in Cinderella.

The bubbles when Giselle is cleaning have reflections just like Cinderella's did when she was cleaning.

Then there's the obvious stuff like the poison apple and haggard old woman being from Snow White, the Queen turning into a dragon being from Sleeping Beauty, the sword being pulled out like Sword and the Stone, the birds and animals helping being from Snow White and Cinderella, the dance at the ball, the true love's kiss, the glass slipper ... it was all Disney familiar. Great fun.

[Lhriangel]

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

We bought this DVD at Target last weekend and had a blast watching it. We saw a lot of the Disney references when we saw it in the film - even the kids saw the Bella Notte and the Feed the Birds lady.

A few more I remember -

Nancy's last name is Tremaine, which is the name of the stepmother and stepsisters in Cinderella.

The bubbles when Giselle is cleaning have reflections just like Cinderella's did when she was cleaning.

Then there's the obvious stuff like the poison apple and haggard old woman being from Snow White, the Queen turning into a dragon being from Sleeping Beauty, the sword being pulled out like Sword and the Stone, the birds and animals helping being from Snow White and Cinderella, the dance at the ball, the true love's kiss, the glass slipper ... it was all Disney familiar. Great fun.

DARN I was hoping to show my disney knowledge w/the Nancy Tremaine tidbit hehe. I love this show. It was fun, and showed that musicals can still be popular even if kids seem to be growing up faster these days.

[NormanB258]

I remember from the theater that one of the scenes in the goofy short features delivery of a big shipping crate, and the product code on the side of the box is M1CK3Y or something close to that.

[Michael Heide]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

ENCHANTED EASTER EGGS
PUTTING THE DISNEY DVD UNDER THE MICROSCOPE[...]

• WE BRAKE FOR PRINCES…Remember that scene with Prince Edward and the bus? When James Marsden was standing on top of said public transport, you might have noticed that a tour bus went buy with a ton of gawking tourists guffawing in wide amazement. As it turns out, that wasn’t planned, those weren’t actors. Those were real tourists who just happened to be cruising by while the filming happened. Director Kevin Lima sure did know a good ad libbed moment when he saw it.

• LIMA KNOWS CHIPMUNKS…As it turned out, Lima is an old hand at animating chipmunks. His resume also includes working on 1987’s The Chipmunk Adventure featuring three rodents named Simon, Theodore and Alvin, not Pip.

• MORE PAST PRINCESSES…If you didn’t know already, the film’s songwriters, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, have a lot of experience writing songs for Disney princesses. Among their credits are Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin and Pocahantas.

I know I'm nitpicking, but how are those three things Easter Eggs?

I appreciate the research, though.

[jza1218]

The play in the middle of Central Park during "That's How You Know" was Rapunzel which is another upcoming Disney film

The soap opera that Edward watches in the hotel room (which is named The Grand Duke...a Cinderella character) has Beauty and the Beast as theme music. Also, the actress from the show was the voice of Belle.

[cabbitabe]

More here, 'natch:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...s_in_Enchanted

Loved this movie. Amy Adams was adorable....though Isla Fisher is still the cuter redhead between the two.